1393 W. Langland Piers Plowman C. iii. 193 Makeþ of lyer a lang cart to lede alle þese oþere, As fobbes and faitours.

1622 J. Mabbe tr. M. Alemán Rogue ii. 243 Many men would deale more honestly..if these fobs and giggs were not put into their heads by others.

1654 E. Wolley tr. ‘G. de Scudéry’ Curia Politiæ 49 Such fobbs and cheats are more tollerable..in persons of mean fortunes.

1699 B. E. New Dict. Canting Crew Fob, a cheat, trick.

1852 ‘N. Buntline’ Myst. & Miseries N.Y. (new ed.) i. vii. 62 ‘He come ze fob on some of ze nobilitie.’

1673 F. Kirkman Unlucky Citizen 203 They should then arrest you in a Fobb-Action at his Suit.

1697 N. Luttrell Diary in Brief Hist. Relation State Affairs (1857) IV. 257 Endeavouring to steal a young lady..by the help of bailifs, who arrested her..in a fob action.

1736 N. Bailey et al. Dictionarium Britannicum (ed. 2) A Fob (or sham) action.

1889 M. Hatton-Ripley From Flag to Flag xxiv. 211 The tempting fob that hung from his pocket.

1893 J. S. Farmer Slang Fob..a watch chain or ribbon, with buckle and seals, worn hanging from the fob.

1894 Daily News 22 June 6/6 Skirt trimmed on the hips with fobs of bright rose-pink velvet, two on either side.

1837 C. Dickens Pickwick Papers xxviii. 295 With..a gold watch in his fob pocket.

1884 S. Dowell Hist. Taxation in Eng. III. iii. iii. 307 A fob watch is in existence that belonged to Oliver Cromwell.

1885 H. C. McCook Tenants Old Farm 121 Beneath it [his waistcoat] a goodly fobchain protrudes.

1838 W. Holloway Gen. Dict. Provincialisms Fob, to froth as beer does when poured out quickly. E. Sussex.

1883 W. H. Cope Gloss. Hampshire Words Fob, to froth as beer.

1898 G. H. Hurst Soaps 229 The material may rise up in the form of froth very considerably, this proceeding being known to soap-makers as fobbing... It is this liability to fob that renders it undesirable that a soap pan should be fully charged to start with.

1938 Thorpe's Dict. Appl. Chem. (ed. 4) II. 95/2 Some brewers add only a small proportion of the hops as the copper is filling up—they help to prevent ‘fobbing’.

1968 Los Angeles Times 6 May ii. 12/2 The FOBs don't know English when they get here and their parents move to Chinatown so the family can live with people like themselves.

1991 J. Raban Hunting Mr. Heartbreak 256 If you passed Mr. Han on the street, you'd mistake him for a still shell-shocked newcomer; an FOB.

1994 Filipino Express (Electronic ed.) 11 Dec. 11 They call the Vietnamese F.O.B.s... We can call them S.O.B.s, but that would be stooping down to their level.

2004 K. W. Keltner Dim Sum of All Things 139 In Stephanie's world, Lindsey's blatant disregard for sock perfection made her look like a fob—a fresh-off-the-boat immigrant.

1583 R. Greene Mamillia i. f. 28^v I will not..fobbe you with fayre wordes, and foule deedes.

1593 Tell-Trothes New-yeares Gift (1876) 25 He..would fobbe him vppe with a thousand vntruthes.

a1643 W. Cartwright Ordinary (1651) iv. iv. 71 I won't be fubb'd ensure your self.

1731 H. Fielding Genuine Grub-St. Opera i. v. 18 While every one else he is fobbing, Do'st think he'll be honest to thee.

1843 Punch 5 152/2 Kings and ministers have fobbed us of our renown.

1854 Punch 27 232/1 Noodles who complain..of being fobbed..out of various sums from £25 to £90.

1861 Standard 4 Nov. They think themselves fobbed by our dextrous policy.

a1652 A. Wilson Hist. Great Brit. (1653) 68 Another young Gentlewoman, that had less offended, was fobbed into the place.

a1652 A. Wilson Hist. Great Brit. (1653) 241 They we[r]e fobb'd in by several Popes..to serve their own turns.

1702 R. L'Estrange tr. Seneca's Morals by Way of Abstract (ed. 8) 522 Here's..the same Thing Fobb'd upon the World over again.

1704 J. Logan in Mem. Hist. Soc. Pennsylvania (1870) IX. 311 Which place was..fobbed upon him.

1715 M. Davies Εἰκων Μικρο-βιβλικὴ 280 That Legendary Triumvirate found ways..to fob into Tinmouth's Gold-finding Legendary their own production of Winefred's Life.

1741 S. Richardson Pamela III. xxxiii. 316 Don't fob upon us your Girl with the Pagan name for Lady Jenny.

1792 J. Wolcot Lyric Epist. to Ld. Macartney in Wks. (1812) III. 126 No Janus he, with selfish views to fob.

1805 Morning Chron. 31 Aug. in Spirit of Public Jrnls. (1806) IX. 208 So now it was time..To fob up an excuse for my sudden retreat.

1825 Westm. Rev. 4 401 We find him with much point, pleasantry, and earnestness, fobbing an ale licence.

a1627 W. Rowley & T. Middleton Wit at Severall Weapons iv. i, in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. Llllll3/1 Now you talk of fobbing, I wonder the Lady sends not for me according to promise?

1818 T. Moore Fudge Family in Paris vi. 160 The rogue but counts how many guineas He's fobbed.

1821 J. Clare Village Minstrel I. 35 The sailor..styles them ‘gentlemen’, And fobs his money up.

1840 T. Hood Up Rhine 3 When the qualm is over, [he] quietly fobs the time-piece.

1842 S. Lover Handy Andy iv The gentlemen in black silk stockings..have been fobbing fees for three weeks.